Video: Hidden Treasures — NauticStar Boats

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AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – Temperatures are rising into the heat of summer, and boaters are busy hitting the water. And while it is the summer season, many people may not know that one of the nation’s top boat manufacturers is busy all year in Northeast Mississippi.

From start to finish, 1,200 boats are built at NauticStar in Amory each year. It’s a process taking both skill and talent of the company’s 140 employees.

“We have a design team. We do our own tooling, which means we make our own molds. A boat is painted before it is ever built. So we spray the gel coat of paint on the mold and then go all the way through with lamination. Then we start assembling, then final assembly, testing and last we wrap and ship them,” said Doug Wheeler, NauticStar Director of Sales and Marketing.

Phil Faulkner founded NauticStar in 2002. The fiberglass boat company started small but has quickly grown in the last 10 years. Bay boats, off shore boats and deck style boats are made to order.

“People are very surprised to hear about us. We’re actually the seventh largest outboard boat builder in the country. We do boat shows all over the coast, and from the tip of Texas all the way to New England. We started out with just two models and now we have 21 models. Some are on their third generation already,” Wheeler said.

In 10 manufacturing days, one boat is completed and on its way to the water. The detailed construction is done completely by hand. It’s a family business that also benefits Monroe County’s economy.

“All of our boat builders are local people and we’re all just a big family. There’s not a person out there that I wouldn’t take home to dinner,” Wheeler said.

For more information visit, http://www.nauticstarboats.com/ or call 662-256-5636.

If you have any hidden treasures you would like WCBI to visit, send an email to Jillian at jgarrigues@wcbi.com.